IO Files: US/S/921
Memorandum by Mr. Edward L. Freers of the United States Mission at the United Nations to the United States Representative at the United Nations ( Austin )
Subject: Soviet Version of our Attitude on Admission of New Members
You may be interested in how our attitude on new members is being presented exclusively, except for the Voice of America, to the people inhabiting about one-fifth of the world’s area. This version also enjoys dissemination by Tass in all parts of the world.
The following is a summary of an 850 word item which appeared in Pravda for July 5, 1949, under the headline “Anglo-American Bloc Opposes Admission of New Members to U. N.”:
“The question of admitting new members to the U.N. has been on the Security Council’s agenda for more than three years, but has, to date, remained deadlocked. The cause for this lies in Anglo-American policy which aims at utilizing the U.N. for its own purposes, purposes that are at odds with those of the U.N.
The Anglo-American bloc has violated Article 4 of the U.N. Charter in particular, discriminating against such peace-loving countries as Albania, the Mongolian People’s Republic, and later against Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, because the existing political systems in these countries do not please the reactionary circles of the U.S.A. and England. At the same time the Anglo-American bloc insistently strove for admission of countries that have certainly not lived up to the provisions of Article 4 of the Charter, with the aim of filling the U.N. with governments obedient to the bloc and thereby converting it into an instrument of the Anglo-American bloc.
Every time the Anglo-American bloc raised the question of voting for admission of such states as Trans-Jordan, Portugal and Ireland, the U.S.S.R. felt obliged to object, and the Anglo-Americans claimed abuse of the veto power. As a matter of fact, the veto power is used by the Anglo-American bloc itself in carrying out a policy of discrimination against truly democratic countries. The American delegate, Austin, declared June 21, 1949, that the U.S. would not vote in the Security Council for admission of any of the above-mentioned countries. It must be remembered that the U.S.A. is a permanent member of this council and, consequently, a refusal to vote for these countries means blocking the very possibility of their admission.
As is known, the Soviet delegation has advanced a new proposal providing for the admission of all 12 governments which have applied for membership. The candidacy of each of these applicants has been considered in the Security Council, and each member of the Council has had the opportunity to state his position. However, the representatives of the Anglo-American bloc are not in the least interested in strengthening the authority of the Security Council by saving it from its present deadlock; they have even shown that they are indifferent [Page 298] to whether such governments as Italy and Finland are admitted. This position openly reflects the attempts by the Anglo-American bloc to adapt the U.N. to its own interests.”